Three arrested over Bordeaux student assault

Three people have been arrested and charged with attacking six Chinese students in Bordeaux, French prosecutors have said.

One Chinese woman was hit in the face with a Champagne bottle, in what the French interior minister, Manuel Vallas, called an “act of xenophobia”.

The 24-year-old woman was with six fellow Chinese students at La Tour Blanche School of Viticulture and Oenology near Bordeaux, when they were assaulted at a home in the town of Hostens.

Police said that three men had shouted racist abuse at the group and thrown a bottle at them, the woman, who was seriously injured, was taken to a hospital in Bordeaux.

The three suspects, ages 19-20, have been charged with aggravated violence, using or threatening to use arms and drunkenness for the attack.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying condemned the attack, but said that the injured student had been “properly treated” in hospital. She added that she had called on the French authorities to “take effective measures to protect Chinese citizens’ safety and rights in France.”

According to French newspaper, Le Figaro the assault is the latest in a string of incidents involving Chinese citizens in France. Chinese tourists are renowned for carrying large amounts of cash and are often targeted by local robbers.

The attack also comes at a tricky time of diplomatic relations between France and China, with the threat of a trade war looming, which could have a huge impact on the amount of wine which France exports to China.